Fifth race of 2008 season will provide halfway point of IHRA Nitro Jam Schedule

Norwalk, Ohio (June 19, 2008) – With the 2008 season championship points races heating up IHRA will head to Canada for the first of two Canadian races this season July 4-6. The CARS RV & Marine & Motorsport Rocky Mountain Nationals Presented By Torco Racing Fuels at Castrol Raceway Featuring the Cervus Contractors Equipment and JCB Night of Fire and Partsource Championship Sunday in Edmonton will bring the thrill of the Knoll Gas Nitro Jam to the rabid racing fans in Western Canada for the sixth time since the race’s inception in 2003. It is one of the hottest tickets in town and consistently sets attendance records as each year the nitro frenzy grows in what is known as “Festival City” and one of the largest cities in North America area-wise.

While the City of Edmonton has embraced IHRA and the Rocky Mountain Nationals, the drivers have slowly warmed to Castrol Raceway. The longest haul on the circuit for most racers, many drivers have been reticent to make the long trip over the years. Those who have been to the facility, and have experienced the passion and enthusiasm of the drag racing fans in Alberta, would not miss the race for the world.

“I absolutely love that place,” Torco Pro Nitro Top Fuel Top Fuel driver Bobby Lagana Jr. said of Castrol Raceway. “The fans are unbelievable. My entire life my one true love has been drag racing and coming to a city like Edmonton, where it seems like the entire town is in love with drag racing, always makes for a special weekend. Every year so many fans thank us for coming out there to race. Heck, we should be thanking them for coming out to watch us. Drivers who complain about the long tow should stop and think for a minute about how rabid and appreciative the fans in Edmonton are. I love it.”

A Scarsdale, N.Y. resident, it is a 2,500 mile trip each way for Lagana and his crew. But after his recent success at the President’s Cup Nationals in Maryland it will probably seem to the race team like a trip to the corner store.

“Yes, we’re having a great time,” Lagana said. “We really needed that win at MIR and the circumstances surrounding it made it that much sweeter. After the race in the winner’s circle I told the media I have everything I could possibly want. And I do.”

There are a number of adjectives you could use to describe Lagana’s win in Maryland…inspirational, unexpected, emotional…all applicable. It was the first time his younger brother Dom was officially the Crew Chief on the team’s 2004 Hadman Dragster. He wrenched the team to a Father’s Day win with family patriarch Bob Lagana Sr. looking on. The elder Lagana also got his hands dirty, helping to turn the car over between elimination rounds.

The victory also came at a critical time for the team as it put it right back in the middle of the 2008 Torco Pro Nitro Top Fuel points chase. Lagana had a pedestrian 1-3 record in elimination rounds heading into the President’s Cup Nationals. He was in danger of watching his championship hopes slip away. However, after the race at MIR the points standings have tightened up considerably. Defending champion Bruce Litton, who won at the Motor City Nationals, currently leads the points chase with 383 points. Spencer Massey, the Top Fuel rookie who won the first two events on the 2008 schedule, is second with 253 points. Mike Strasburg is third with 296 points while Lagana sits fourth with 295. Scott Palmer rounds out the top five with 222 points.

Defending World Champion Dale Creasy Jr. (Beecher, Ill.) moved into the 2008 Torco Pro Nitro Funny Car points lead following his final-round victory over Todd Simpson at Maryland International Raceway. Creasy won an amazing six national events in 2007 and won his second career event, in 2006, at Castrol Raceway.

“We love racing in Canada,” Creasy said. “Our first career win was in Canada at Grand Bend Motorplex and we won later in the season up in Edmonton. We love the track, love the city and really love the fans. The fans at Castrol Raceway create one of the greatest racing atmospheres you will find anywhere.”

Creasy leads Motor City Nationals winner Paul Lee by 45 points heading into Edmonton. Spring Rockingham champion Matt Hagan is third, 56 points back while Terry Haddock (74 points behind) and San Antonio champion Steven Macklyn (108 points behind) round out the top five.

Terry Haddock will enter Edmonton as the defending event champion. He knocked off Creasy in the final round last season to claim his first career Ironman.

The Torco Pro Modified class has been making news this season as true parity between the supercharged and nitrous entries has never been more evident. In 2008 two nitrous-assisted drivers, Jim Halsey in San Antonio and Mike Castellana in Maryland have visited the winner’s circle. The same supercharged driver, points leader Kenny Lang, has won the other two national events on the ’08 IHRA schedule.

Two nitrous drivers in particular have significantly increased their performance this season. Pat Stoken ran the quickest NOS pass in IHRA history when he clocked a 6.022 pass at Milan Dragway during the Motor City Nationals. Mike Castellana set the new speed mark en route to the Ironman in Maryland, blasting through the traps at 239.14 mph.

“Our nitrous guys have really stepped up, but Kenny Lang has been just as amazing this season,” IHRA senior director of race operations Mike Baker said. “Pro Modified has always been about parity, seeing how the supercharged guys measured up to the nitrous guys and vice versa. Everyone always talks about how IHRA is the true home of Pro Modified…well, the racers are the ones who make this true.”

Lang, on the strength of those two national event wins (one in Rockingham and one in Milan) will enter the Rocky Mountain Nationals the 2008 points leader with 322 points. Jim Halsey is second with 256 points, Mike Castellana third with 254 points, defending champion Scott Cannon Jr. fourth with 241 points and Mike Janis fifth with 224 points.

Johnstown, Ohio’s Laurie Cannister has dominated IHRA’s Alcohol Funny Car class this season, rolling up an 11-1 round record in eliminations, qualifying #1 twice and winning three of four national events thus far in 2008. She has to be the odds-on favorite heading into the Rocky Mountain Nationals, but by no means will she have a cakewalk. Tom Carter won in Milan and set the IHRA speed record in the process with a backed-up 249.30 pass.

Rob Atchison, a three-time world champion, has been to two final rounds this season. Seven-time world champion Mark Thomas seems to have things figured out after struggling earlier this season while Larry Dobbs had a stunning 254.14 pass at Maryland International Raceway, a number he was not able to back up but still the first AFC pass at over 250 mph in IHRA history.

Jeff Dobbins (Wilmington, N.C.) will enter the Rocky Mountain Nationals as the Torco Pro Stock points leader with 327 points. Elijah Morton (300 points), Frank Gugliotta (292 points), John Montecalvo (284 points) and Pete Berner (239 points) round out the top five.

The CARS RV & Marine & Motorsport Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by Torco Racing Fuels will begin Friday, July 4 with professional and sportsman qualifying starting at 9:00am. Saturday will feature two Nitro qualifying sessions and the legendary Cervus/JCB Friday “Night of Fire.” Final eliminations will be held Sunday, July 6 during PartSource Championship Sunday. For more information visit www.nitrojam.com or www.castrolraceway.com.